A/N: I now thank the Lord for letting me release this chapter and for finding out about the site which lets me have a job. Now all I need is a professional driver's license and a car, then I'll be all set for the drive of my life. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Credits go to Hiro Mashima for Fairy Tail, and Kinoko Nasu, and the TYPE MOON franchise for Fate/stay night. Credits also go to Alexander Pope for the famous quote.
Chapter 15: Rosy Truths, Wholesome Lies
Day 3: Morning
There are no words to describe how appetizing the meal is.
Everyone eats quietly and sternly, as though they must not be bothered in them savoring every taste of it. Every morsel of food that they consume must be eaten in earnest and delight.
Saber, Taiga and Sakura eat their food in utter bliss as they savor every moment that they eat the delicacies that lay before their eyes.
"Delicious as always! I want seconds!" The Fujimura heir now shouted in delight as she offers Shirou an empty bowl. Shirou can only sigh at the usual scene that unfolds in the Emiya Manor almost everyday.
But there is one person that had eaten the most, but still not showing any signs of being a really big consumer. He did not want to imagine it, but still that image that he formed cannot get out of his head.
Saber.
He doesn't know if Servants will eat when offered food, but in Saber's case, it seems that she definitely needs that food. That, and she really sleeps a lot.
Well, it can be a given since he cannot provide prana for Saber properly, but at this rate, the food budget will deplete in a matter of two weeks. And he can't let that happen.
That aside, he remembers his own creed of using a Command Seal to summon Saber when absolutely necessary, and he now thought about the school. Every day, the smell of molasses grows stronger in some areas, that for his life he doesn't know where it comes from up until this day.
He may have to ask Tohsaka Rin for her assistance since he felt that it might be a Magus who did it. If push comes to shove, if he encounters a Servant, he may either have to run or to summon Saber to school.
But then, if he summons his Servant, it will place even greater danger for his classmates. He can only serve as bait to the Servant until he can see a location that will enable him to summon a Servant.
That is his decision, and he will not let any of his classmates be put to danger. But then, he is not stupid enough to catch the Servant who actually did it though. He can only consider it as a suicidal charge on his account.
And so, he can only watch them as they finish the meal that he prepared.
It is a fresh new day as Mirajane goes out to buy necessities that they need. The tail can only frown at the very slow day that she feels. She did not feel this way in ten years, yet for some reason, as the days pass, it agitated her to no end.
But then, she can only keep her composure and wait for that fateful day as it passes by. These are the times where she can be grateful for the peace that she experiences, even though she knows that the peace will not be kept for long.
So when Mirajane is about to leave, the spirit can only say one thing to her.
"Take care, Mirajane – san." The spirit mumbled, to which the smile of Mirajane glowed over her like she is basking in the warm and gentle sunlight.
"I will." She replied cheerfully yet meaningfully as she now leaves the place.
As Mirajane now passed along the memorial park, she noticed how heavy the curse is. She cannot even breathe the curse in even though she had the powers of a demon.
Inhaling the curse will mean her death. And she knows it too well to differentiate between a curse of the demons and a malevolent curse that can never be digested.
"What made…the land…this way?" She can feel the heavy atmosphere taking its toll on her as she passes through the desolate land filled with dry trees and dry patches of land. She then decided to leave as fast as she can, walking fast like her life depended on it.
But then an unexpected meeting with someone will let her brave the curse for a little while longer.
She now knocked on the door. She expects the Master of Saber to be there. To her disappointment however, someone opened the door, and the one that she is facing now is not the one she expected to meet.
Golden eyes meet emerald as someone other than Shirou opened the door.
"Good morning…Saber." Assassin's voice is ever as flat as the ground that she is standing on.
"Likewise, Assassin." She replied with the flatness that can rival the surface of the ice floor.
In a contest of having the most stoic attitude, whoever flinches first will lose the competition. And in that contest…
"May I come in?"
They both lose as they let out sighs of relief.
"You may." Saber acquiesced as Assassin now bowed down in gratitude as she now enters the hallway of the one that calls this place "home".
Now that she thought about it, when she first entered the abode of the Master of Saber, she noticed that the Bounded Field...
Does not look like a Bounded Field at all.
It resembles more like an open house designed to act up only if the one visiting it has ill intentions. And even with the Bounded Field acting up, it only served as what the modern world calls an alarm clock instead of a hostile, even suicidal means to deal with the invader.
This is not a Magus workshop at all.
"Have you finished looking around the house, Assassin?" Saber now called the person out of her reminiscing daze as she is now facing Saber. Assassin now bowed her head in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry. I must have been too enamored by this house to be paying attention to what you are about to say." She honestly replied, to which Saber only closed her eyes.
"It's all right, Assassin. Even I feel comfortable at this kind of shelter." She now almost grimaced as she is now reminded of the grim events that happened in this house before it is being renovated to what it is now.
Now that she mentioned it, she now remembered how she is summoned once again. There are too many coincidences to be considered to qualify as "not what she thought this world is".
First, the workshop that she is summoned in is dangerously identical to the one that she and Irisviel both made during the time that Irisviel is sick, right down to the minute markings. If she told Rin, or even Shirou about it, it will cause great confusion to the ones who are left behind.
Second will be the alliance between the Tohsaka and the Emiya. If Kiritsugu will have to make an alliance, he will be sure to minimize casualties. Similarly, Rin and Shirou made one, in a more friendly tone than she had ever expected.
Of course, it can be a given due to the fact that they are still high school students, and that the Grail War happened too quickly.
Third one will be her meeting with Kotomine Kirei. She knows that there is something up that man's sleeve, but she doesn't know what it is. She even feels afraid toward that man as she stayed silent the whole time.
After Emiya Shirou declaring that he doesn't have a wish, she sensed that she will only be used if there is any malicious intent that will come their way.
But then the last one is too obvious.
The Emiya surname that Shirou and Kiritsugu shared.
In sharp contrast to Kiritsugu's carefully and coldly planned actions, the boy is also a planner, but then his plans are spontaneous. Sometimes she can even consider his actions as risky due to last minute effective but selfless actions nonetheless.
Even the engraved Kanji letters that she saw on the picture frame border practically screams out the answer.
Seigi no Mikata.
An ally of justice.
A hero.
She saw Kiritsugu's smile in that photograph. As if he holds it.
Treasures it.
This is a man who promised to himself that he will never let the world take anything – or anyone – away from him.
That holds true for the child, but how did he get that soft smile?
He is that man who only spoke to her through three orders and the one who treats her as a tool. He is that same man who never cared even if the world burned as long as he can save a life in his final moments.
So, going by those scenes, Emiya Kiritsugu is actually…
No, it should not be possible.
She can consider Shirou as such, but for Emiya Kiritsugu, never.
"So, you realized it too." Assassin now mellowed her eyes upon the picture of a father and son. "You pursue the Christian faith. Surely you know what passages will apply to them."
"Yes, but it doesn't mean that I can forgive him for what he has done." Saber can only grit her teeth as she remembered her final moments. "That man has denied me of the Holy Grail, and I cannot forgive him for that."
"A famous poet quoted 'To err is human, to forgive, divine'." Assassin now quoted it from what she remembered from some books that she had read. "Surely there must be a reason for him to destroy it."
"And what reason would that be, Assassin?" Saber now threw back the question at Assassin who can only avert her eyes. "I thought your religion does not pursue glory in this war."
"I cannot answer your question yet, Saber." Assassin admitted to Saber's dismay. "What I do know though is the reason why my comrades will still pursue the Holy Grail…"
Saber now intently listened to what the woman of religion will have to say even though her question is not yet answered.
"It is because they wanted to have their own identity and a name of their own." Assassin began. "I wanted them to stop pursuing the Holy Grail since it contradicts the teachings of our god."
"And what would that teaching be?" Saber, now curious, asked the woman of faith.
"Our god…has no such chalice." Assassin coldly concluded. "He is the only one to be worshipped and him alone."
"I see." But that doesn't answer the question on why she is summoned here in the first place. "But why are you here, then?"
"It is a chance given to me by my Master." Assassin replied, her eyes filled with joy for a brief moment. "I have a chance to try to convince you and the others to abandon the Holy Grail. Now that the True Assassin has been summoned, that gave me even more of a reason to convince him to return back to our faith."
"Abandon the Grail, you mean…"
"Waging a war against the Holy Grail War." Assassin finished, to Saber's unbelief.
From her viewpoint, from the start it is a monumentally impossible task for one team to succeed in convincing the others to abandon the wish granting device.
But then other factors kick in that are too obvious to even be dismissed.
Saber can only sigh as she now stood up. Assassin now looked up to her as Saber now said…
"We will have a drink of tea first."
Mirajane saw the child of the snow casually approaching the location. She cannot find words to describe how awkward that meeting is. The fox spirit would never hear the end of it if she finds out about this.
Well, screw it, she will find it out one way or the other due to her nature.
She can only sigh as she gave out a greeting that would be considered as even more awkward if it is to be put into a novel.
"Good morning, Illyasviel – san." She can only smile weakly as her body is about to give up on its place. It is as if she is tortured by a thousand malevolent souls who had lost their way. Still, she remained standing, hoping that it will not be her last chance to stand here in this place.
"Good morning, Mirajane Strauss." Illya curtsied and briefly bowed her head down as she looked around the place where they are on. She narrowed her eyes as she surveyed the place. "Living things like ourselves are not even supposed to be here. Just being here makes my insides churn in disgust. What are you doing here anyway?"
"I'm trying to get used to this place…" Mirajane admitted, to which the child of the snow now raised her eyebrow. "But it seems that this place is not suitable at all. I don't know why, but I feel like thousands of souls died here…"
"A massive prana graveyard…" Illyasviel deduced. "I tried to investigate this place, but Sella and Leysritt won't let me, so I snuck out alone. Good thing I left Berserker at home, otherwise, I can finish you right here and now…"
"Good thing you are here, Illyasviel – san, since I will need your help." Mirajane now smiled.
"Help with…what?" She now tilted her head in curiosity as to what this will be about. Seeing that Mirajane did not bring along a Servant with her, it seems that she wanted to do this on her own as of now.
Maybe this will be her chance to convince Mirajane and kill Shirou, so she went along with her for now for the time being.
"Fine, I will help you." She now acquiesced. "So what would you need help about?"
"This…" Mirajane now brought out a lacrima sphere, which to the child of the snow looks at it and she had it compared with the image of the crystal ball that she is using. But then, the lacrima now projected an entire image of what she knows about the Fuyuki city map, along with its leylines.
She cannot believe at what level of magic Mirajane is now demonstrating. She now wonders if Mirajane is one of those users of the Five Magics or she is simply that good at pulling out magic like this.
Meanwhile, Mirajane now started to explain the situation.
"This is the place where I am standing now." She now showed a particular place with an immense black portion around it. "According to what I saw on the road signs, this is the Fuyuki Memorial Park. But then further digging down into the history of the place thanks to Fuyuki Public Library shows that this place is really the Fuyuki Municipal Hall ten years ago."
"And this is…the…leyline?" Illya noticed as she now saw the memorial park among the places the leyline enclosed. But then, if this is the leyline, why is this place full of accursed mana instead of pure uncorrupted energy?
But there is something more that concerns her than the coincidence of those places…
The length of time.
Ten years ago is the same time that the Fourth Holy Grail War happened. This is one of the places that the ritual is supposed to be conducted due to the advantage of being a major leyline.
But if the ritual is to be conducted, it should either be at the Tohsaka's mansion or at the Kotomine Church. This is one of the less renowned places to conduct a ritual since this place involves great risk from a Magus perspective and many people will…
Wait, what has she just noticed?
"You noticed it too, didn't you? Illyasviel – san?" She now narrowed her eyes as she now observed the place. "Something happened here, and only you can tell me."
The child of the snow cannot believe it. Her grandfather said that Kiritsugu will not come back to her anymore since he now has an adopted son. A father who leaves her daughter must be punished, and she must exact that revenge on his adopted son.
She must ask the adopted son first on why Kiritsugu has to leave her for him and what happened to her father during those years before she can decide on whether to kill him or not. But it seems that she herself will discover the answer by looking at the park where they are on.
But for now, her answer to Mirajane is this…
"Let's end this discussion if you are trying to convince me why I should not kill him." Illyasviel now replied coldly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to take my leave…"
She is about to leave the place, when Mirajane now held her arm. Illyasviel now looked at Mirajane's eyes with her eyes of suggestion, but then something stronger than her Magecraft threatens her soul.
Mirajane's eyes now glowed with an ominous light as she knowingly smiled. It can only be described by people who will see those eyes as the stare of a demon. That stare can dispel any suggestion that the child of the snow is trying to place on her.
Mirajane now spoke to the child in the same cold manner that Illyasviel had used to address her earlier.
"For now, I am right in seeking your help, since you have realized it yourself through the sentences that you have said earlier."
The child of the snow cannot believe the power that the woman has. She can believe what she has done to Berserker, but to be this cunning? Just how strong is she?
"Believe me, I have seen that look many times. You have the look of the one who wanted to search for answers. But if you will not help me right now, you know which one of us is stronger, am I right?" She now continued in an ominous tone.
Although she wanted to vehemently deny the truth, it seems that she is in a situation where the Master of Assassin drove home the point. Besides, she has some questions to the mysterious wildcard herself, since she still recognized her Servant as the one who will be included in the sacrifice.
But then, it is impossible for a war to have two Assassins, and therefore she has doubts on whether her sacrifice as a Holy Grail will be worth it.
"You can let me go, and you can follow me to the Einzbern Mansion." The Einzbern homunculus replied as she closed her eyes in defeat. "Make no mistake, however, as I am also doubting how this alliance will stand between us, Mirajane."
"Then let us get along for now." Mirajane now smiled as she took her hand. Strangely enough, the child of the snow felt that she has been held by a mother leading her to her own home.
And so, for that fleeting moment, she savored every moment of it.
What they did not notice however, is a man who slightly grinned at the events upon finding out that he saw the Einzbern homunculus. He saw that the child is of an exceptional make, therefore she can withstand the flood of souls to her body before she breaks as the Holy Grail.
"I'm sure you have seen her as she registered her Servant." The man mused as he now leaves the place. That place brings a lot of enlightening and sickening memories to him. "It is right that you have to take your sweet time right now. But leave it for too long and the spoiled taste will be imminent."
He now walked away from that place as the plan begins to be set to motion.
You have to take care of the old man too, holy man of the cloth.
As she now entered the mansion, she is now enamored at the place where she is right now. It looks like a mansion fit for a princess to live in. But then, the distance to the actual ritual place makes it impractical to serve as a base of operations for the Holy Grail War.
Greeting them are two maids who bowed their heads.
"Welcome back, Illya – sama." They said as they bowed down. "We have made preparations for…"
The eldest of the two maids stared in shock as she saw a visitor other than the Emiya that she is loathing about. Scratch that, even worse than the Emiya that she is loathing.
Meanwhile, the younger of the two maids can only smile inwardly at having to see her master make a friend.
The Master who dared to take one of Berserker's lives in one battle is now at the Einzbern Mansion. And so, she now saw an appropriate time to berate the Heir of the Einzbern Magecraft.
"Illya – sama!" She now spoke. "You fully know well that we must finish her if ever her one foot steps inside this mansion!"
"Sella, Leysritt has no qualms about it, and so do I." Illyasviel said the final word, to which Sella begrudgingly agreed. "Besides, she is not here to finish what we have started on that day, since she knows how strong Berserker is. She is here for other matters, and she will definitely not convince me to spare my brother's life. Leysritt, do you have any objections in this matter?"
"No." This is Leysritt's answer. It is only one word, yet it is a meaningful word. It seems that her master is now getting more accommodating than ever, and she hoped that there will come a day when she will find out all the answers.
"Mirajane, let's go to the library." Illyasviel now walked briskly as fast as she can. If she wanted answers, it will have to be simple and it will have to be now. "Berserker, I need you now."
The man now appeared beside Illya as she now walked to the library, when Leysritt now fumbled her dress to search for something. She then took it out of her cleavage as she now said this.
"Berserker. Not needed." Leysritt now said, to which Illya turned her head to see Leysritt holding the key to the library. "I have. The key."
Mirajane now realized that the child of the snow wanted to use Berserker to smash the library door wide open as she thought she had thrown away the key.
Leysritt's face is ever as straight as a clean line, but inside, she is now smiling as she is about to fulfill the will of that ghost or illusion that she saw that day.
Illyasviel then motioned for Berserker to return to spirit form, to which the man now closed his eyes as he disappeared from her sight. She then took the key from Leysritt and as they reached the place, she now opened the door with the key.
The door now creaked, and they saw the dust accumulating for not being cleaned up for days. Sella and Leysritt opened the curtains and the windows to allow the light to bask in that room.
The child of the snow then searched for the box that she saw that day, and she saw the folder that she is looking for. She then tossed that file to Mirajane, to which she caught it with one hand. The English words are now about to open her eyes to a new discovery.
The Fourth Grail War File, by Emiya Kiritsugu.
"Have you read this one?" Mirajane now asked, to which the Einzbern homunculus now pouted.
"If I had, I would not need you here right now." She now replied. "I only know Deutsch and Nihon – go. Seeing as you know it better, maybe you can enlighten me on what is written in that file."
As Mirajane had her lacrima, she placed the file on the floor, then she placed the lacrima carefully on top of that file. Sella is about to complain when Mirajane said this.
"No need to worry. You can have the file back, but please let the lacrima do its job first." She now spoke as she placed her hand on top of it. A magic circle now appeared and she stayed that way for a full minute.
Illyasviel now narrowed her eyes at what Mirajane is doing right now. It seems that she has some knowledge of Magecraft in this world even though she doesn't need it from what she sees from her power.
She is not supposed to be surprised at the fact that she can draw a magic circle out of thin air but still she is amazed by it. It is as though she commanded that magic to manifest and not letting that magic consume her.
"It is finished." She now returned the file to Sella, to which she placed the file back in the box. "Here is where the real fun starts."
She then placed the lacrima on the floor, and at once, the lacrima showed images of all pages in Emiya Kiritsugu's file in Japanese. Mirajane then showed Illya the first page of the file. Illyasviel now read aloud the file.
"The following events take place during the first week of February and lasted until the final day of the first week of the same month, 1994. I have left some of the documents in an abandoned house not far away from my home. There is no sense in writing this, yet I have written this in case old man Acht will ever change his mind, which I know he will not. I have been searching for my daughter for so long, but it seems that I cannot do it any longer due to my blindness and paralysis catching up to my physique."
Illyasviel then saw how objective his writing was, yet with a poorly written subliminal subjective at the same time. She then thought that he is trying to write this in an objective manner. One thing that surprised her is a really short reason on why Emiya Kiritsugu disappeared.
He made no excuses in this file. The paragraph is just an objective description that offered no in – depth details whatsoever. The one who have seen this properly written file can say that this is the other side of Emiya Kiritsugu that she knew.
Cold, calculating, even ruthless.
It is a tone that can make Jubstacheit really angry, earning the ire of the whole Einzbern clan. Granted, the file is meant for someone mature enough to understand what is being said here. She then looked up to Mirajane, who then motioned for her to continue what she reads right now.
"I have summoned Saber, whose identity is King Arthur. A historical inaccuracy is noted, since the King Arthur Pendragon that we summoned is actually Arthuria Pendragon. Tohsaka Tokiomi summoned Archer, Kayneth el Melloi Archibald summoned Lancer, whose identity is Diarmuid ua Duibhne from the Irish legends. Matou Kariya summoned Berserker, whose identity is Lancelot du lac from the Arthurian Lore. Waver Velvet summoned Rider, whose identity is Al – Iskandar, more known as Alexander the Great. Uryuu Ryuunosuke summoned Caster, whose identity is Gilles de Rais from the legend of Jeanne d' Arc, and Kotomine Kirei summoned Assassin, whose identity is the hundred faced Hassan – I – Sabbah."
Wait, Kotomine Kirei? The current judge presiding the Holy Grail War?
And what is with the roster of Servants that made their Holy Grail War look like a child's play?
There is one thing that made her even more surprised, and Sella is now shocked as they find out what it is. It is eerily almost similar to this situation right now, and she did not like it even one bit.
"It is then thought by all of the Masters and the judge, Kotomine Risei, that those Servants are the ones who will be in place to be offered as sacrifices to Heaven's Feel, but there is one event that all of the Masters did not anticipate. Another Master, Kejoro of the Nuragumi, summoned Caster, whose identity is Tamamo – no – Mae, one of the goddesses of Japan and Amaterasu Omikami's vessel."
They thought that there will not be a case worse than what Illyasviel saw as of now, but it seems that what they have discovered through an objective observation proved to be far worse than what they have seen.
They thought that the Holy Grail did not permit any Servant from the Eastern hemisphere to be summoned. But for some reason, she is summoned here to this world. The Servant fulfilled almost all of the conditions, except for the fact that she is an Eastern Servant, and adding to that distress is that she is a goddess.
Illyasviel can only look back at Mirajane, who just narrowed her eyes at that notion.
"It seems that you will have to stay here for a long chat, Mirajane Strauss." Illyasviel notified, to which Mirajane can only nod at that notion.
In the quietness of the Emiya Manor, Saber and Assassin are now drinking the warm tea and letting that same tea relax their throat.
Saber is the first one to open up a conversation. There are many things that she wished to ask to the Servant who came in, but then only one question jumped out of her mouth on instinct.
"So, if you are waging the war against the Holy Grail War, then that means I will be your enemy, correct?" Saber asked, to which Assassin only gave a straight answer.
"It will be as you say if you will not be convinced." Assassin replied with a straight face.
Saber can only sigh at the raven – haired lady's assumption. From her numerous experiences as a knight, it is impossible to wage war against war.
Unless there will be an event that can make her do otherwise.
"So, the purpose of your visit is to meet up with my Master Shiro and Rin." Saber deduced, to which Assassin can only nod at the implication. Her specialty is killing Masters, so she has her doubts. But then, she saw her image as a pure person who will only kill when needed.
Heck, she even stopped the battle between her and Archer with her expertise and with a battle experience deviating from a usual Hassan.
If that is true, she can cautiously say that she is not like the other Hassans at all.
"I also wish to meet up with you and the other Servants and convince them to stop the madness." Assassin continued as she gently touched the ceramic teacup. "This is the only way that I know to let them see the error of their ways."
Saber can only narrow her eyes at the seemingly shallow objective of the Servant of the Dagger.
"Please meet up with us as soon as you can." Assassin now stood up and bowed down in gratitude as she finished her drink. "I will be expecting you and the other Masters to meet up with us soon. Here is the place where we are at, and I hope that you will be convinced."
She then handed Saber the directions to where they are at, to which she received it with a doubting look on her face.
"I am hoping so, Assassin." Saber replied as she sees Assassin off. "Thank you for keeping me company."
"You're most welcome, my queen." She now bowed down as she left, to which Saber is left surprised at Assassin's last words.
Granted, it is far off from what she said, but then she had noted of her royal blood. She can only shake her head at the implication and went on her way to wash the dishes. Walking towards the table where they are on, she carefully picked up the teacups that they used and she placed the teacups on the sink. She now prepared her hands and poured in a little amount of liquid dishwashing soap on the sponge to begin the task.
She can only wait for her Master to go home for their lessons on swordsmanship.
A/N: Yep, Fate/stay in the kitchen it is. I know it's a short chapter, but I hope you are happy there. I am also surprised at the insane amount of views that this fanfiction had, and I thank the Lord and the viewers of this fanfic for the continued support. :)
Please enjoy the chapter, no flames please.